Dauntless delver
by Nohiki
Summary: Follow a rookie knight on her path through the clockworks. How will she deal with the matters of the guild? Will she be able to defeat all of the obstacles that lie on the path to the Core? And what will happen when the Swarm gets involved? Reviews appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

"Aaaah!" she yelped as the hulking monster's attack bashed her over the edge. Her eyes never saw anything like it. It looked like a bunch of wood and clockwork holding together by sheer will, slowly shuffling around the place. She underestimated it. The speed with which it swung its wooden mace at her was far greater. The impact sent her stumbling backwards. Unable to stop, she fell over the guard rail and for a moment saw the terrible fall that awaited her. With all of her will, she reached out in time and grabbed the rail, dangling on nothing but two of her fingers that were tiring rapidly. Hearing the ringing sound her dropped sword made as it hit a piece of the clockworks somewhere below and seeing the shadow of the approaching lumber, Lantea knew her days were numbered.

Looking up to the eyes of her executioner, she awaited death as the lumber charged to strike the final blow. Then she heard a loud clang followed by a blinding flash of light. Next thing she knew the lumber was falling down to the death that should have been hers. Feeling her fingers slipping from the rail, Lantea looked up with a last spark of hope. "Grab!" she heard from above, and a giant sword came to her view. The cracks on the weapon glowed with sheer power. Her eyes lost in the beauty of it, she almost fell down, grabbing the hammerhead shaped thing in the nick of time. Feeling a tug, she was swung up, on her way catching a glimpse of the knight that pulled her out of the jam. The ridiculous jelly helmet with a moustache and smoking a pipe would be forever carved in her memory. Hitting the ground after falling from a rather wide arc, her battered body gave out and Lantea sunk into darkness.

When she woke up, something was off. No part of the clockworks smelled like this - or rather didn't smell at all. No smoke, no ozone, no toxic waste, no flowers. Just clean air. She was also lying on something soft. Carefully dragging her hand along the surface below her, she realized it was cloth. She was definitely moved. Why was she out anyway? Her mind struggled to remember, still jumbled from - oh that's right. A living mass of wood hit her pretty hard, and then she nearly fell, and then she was saved by impostoclaus... wait what?

Her eyes snapped open only to narrow into two slits again as the light hurt them. The ceiling above her confirmed she was no longer in the clockworks. But then... where? "Yay, you're awake!" something overly enthusiastic next to her shouted, making her cringe. "That... That hurt my ears." Lantea groaned. she heard a snap and looked in the direction, finding a pink haired knight with her hands slapped over her mouth and sorry look in her eyes. "Somhmh!" came a muffled 'sorry'. Lantea found the strength to roll her eyes. Looking around, she was in some kind of a bunk room, the other person sitting on the bed next to her. "What's this place?" the blue haired knight asked, looking around as her eyes slowly coped with the light.

"You're in our guild hall. Oh you were such a mess when Zen brought you in. That deep in the clockworks with only that gear, it's no wonder though. What were you thinking?" Cheery rambled, only stopping when she noticed Lantea's face. "Oh, right. Too loud. Sorry. Feel better now?" Lantea tried moving for a bit, and eventually managed to sit in the bed. "Yes, as fine as one can be after... that. I should really be worse. Thank you, ...?" Lantea looked at Cheery with questioning expression. "Iiiiiiii'mmmm Misty!" the other knight said, imitating cheerleader moves. "'N you?" Blinking a few times trying to comprehend the person in front of her, Lantea managed to stammer out her name. "Pleased to meet you!" Misty said, grabbing and shaking both of her hands. "OUR hall?" She managed to ask, still not quite getting her bearings. but Misty was all too happy to answer: "Why the Tectonic guild of course! Our Guild Master found you in the clockworks grasping straws, quite literally. Your lights were out so he got you the heck outta there. You weren't in a good shape let me tell you that. It took some effort to revive you." Misty said, her voice becoming more tranquil and her happy expression changing to a concerned one. "I'm fine, really. Thanks. I suppose I should thank the guy." Lantea said, taking a breath to say something else, but Cheery interrupted her: "Sure! I'll call him! Wait here!" She shouted and vanished in a blaze of speed. resigning, Lantea's head hit the pillow as she lied down and waited.

It didn't take long and the familiar knight entered the room, only to find Lantea checking out the gear on display, bored out of her bed. "Nice to see you up and about." He said. Lantea slowly turned around and gave the knight a bit of a stare. She couldn't tell what, but something in that voice sounded a bit off. Deciding to shed it, she walked over. "Thank you for getting me out of there. I'd have been a stain on the ground somewhere deep if you weren't around. Sorry to spoil your mission" the blue knight said with a grateful bow. The other knight waved a hand over it. "It's not a big deal. It was just training. I have served my missions." he said, tapping the crest on his armor. Lantea looked and understood: A vanguard. "Oh! Sorry, sir!" she corrected herself, gathering her composure. Smiling, the other knight shook his head: "At ease, noobie. The name is Zenihdrol. I'm the current, although not founding, master of the Tectonic guild." he introduced herself. Lantea's stance relaxed a little. "I've done some digging. You aren't registered with any guild. How would you like to join us?" Taken aback, Lantea shook her head: "Me? But.. I'm but a Knight." With the tiniest of shrugs, Zen answered: "Doesn't matter. We'll help you get further up!" thinking only for a second, Lantea nodded.

"Great! I assume you already mer Misty?" Snickering, Lantea nodded: "I did allright. Where did you find her?" "Dunno. She was here before I was. She's the guild's unending source of optimism, as you noticed no doubt. And above all else, my second in command." Zen explained, making Lantea choke on her own breath. That earned a laugh from the other knight. "Yeah, everyone reacts always the same to that. I'll have her show you around." With that, her new Guild master left. A minute later, Misty bounced back into the room: "I knew it! I so called it!" she almost sung, glomping ger new guildie. Failing at resisting her, she let her go on: "I told 'em you'd join! I knew you would! You had to! We're awesome! Come I'll show you around!" the ever cheerful knight said, grabbing Lantea's shoulders and promptly leading her out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Days went by and Lantea recovered from the accident and returned to her duties. This time watching the depth she was heading into, her pocket slowly filled with some cash, which didn't escape the keen eyes of a certain metro friend. As Lantea walked down the guild hall, a pink flash appeared in front of her and stopped her: "Helllooooo. How are we?" Misty said, turning to walk along. "Oh, mighty fine. Getting rich... er." Lantea shrugged, but Misty stopped in her tracks. "Rich? How rich?" Lantea shrugged and gave her the number. "And you are still using that crap cobalt set?" the pink haired woman said with a quizzical expression on her face. "It's crap?" Lantea said, so far being happy about her choice. Misty gave her a long look: "_Kozma_ gives it for _free_."

The gears started spinning in Lantea's head. She and Misty started a hate board in the control room as a stress relief measure, and complaints about the ridiculously overpriced items from the quartermaster took up majority of the list. "Oh my god you're right - Ow, OW!" she managed to say before Misty grabbed her by the collar and started dragging her away: "That's it, you're going shopping!" "But I hate shop-hmhfhm!" Lantea was cut short as Misty stuffed a rather large jelly candy in her mouth: "I am the commander here and I said you're getting yourself better gear. That's an ooooordeeeeer!" the overly cheery knight sung. With a humph, Lantea shuffled along, realizing this was a fight she couldn't win.

"The hall of Heroes." Lantea read the sign as the duo made its way to their destination, "Is this where vanguards go to inflate their egos?" she joked, earning a punch on the shoulder: "In. Now." was all Misty said. A painful hour later, they emerged from the hall. "I look ridiculous!" Lantea complained as she went by a large window and saw her reflection. "A poncho and a hat?! I look like some bloody cowboy born in a saddle!" she continued her rant, only to be asked to draw her gun. She did so in half the time she could in the metal armor. "Oh..." she said as the light bulb finally lit in her head. "Say, want to go test this out?" Misty gave her a furious nod and they headed to the armory to fetch the weapons and shields.

A minute later, they were standing in the arcade picking the gate. "This one!" Misty called and jumped on the elevator. "This is going to be something, I've never seen you fight." Lantea said, always searching for new tricks to learn. "Who said anything about fighting? You want to test new gear. I want to get a tan. We're going to some garden level, and while you busy yourself with the wolvers, I'll be lying down in the sun and stuffing my face." the pinkish knight said, poking her companion. Lantea was about to start swearing, but she stopped just in time before she fed Misty's troll. She walked over and hit the button, the elevator plunging into the depths.

When the ride stopped, they walked to the arsenal station to get some ammo. But something wasn't right. "Ooooow, where's my Sun?" Misty whined, her eyes scanning the sky. That was it. It was supposed to be a day, but this part of the clockworks was pitch black. "You want that ammo now?" Lantea said and Misty took it with a growl. "When I find the one who stole my afternoon, I'm going to murder..." "Daaaw, you're so cute when you're angry!" Lantea sung and slipped through the force field, leaving Misty with a hanging jaw. She crept through the bushes, hiding both from Misty and the monsters, waiting for her chance to pounce on some unsuspecting prey, be it a wolver or a certain pink knight. Unknown to her, several eyes were watching her.

Misty walked down the path, a blitz needle in one hand and a pack of sweets in the other, when suddenly a loud, disgusted whine cut through the air and she hastened to the source. When she arrived, she saw Lantea on a clearing, standing in... The woods surrounding the level were disturbed by the outburst of laughter. "You... You stepped... Into dog dung!" She gasped between laughs, further increased when she saw the look on Lantea's face. "Mommy I don't wanna be on Cradle anymore!" The blue knight winced as she pulled her foot out of the disgusting pile and tried in vain to clean her shoe by wiping it on the grass.

When Misty recovered from the spasms and caught her breath, Lantea wanted to head back to haven and change her boots. But Misty shook her head: "This is extraordinary." she said, pointing to the source of her amusement. Lantea's expression turned into one of disbelief: "It's _dogturd_, nothing extraordinary on that." Misty shook her head again: "It's the size of a boulder. No way an ordinary wolver left that here." The two knights looked at each other and their eyes perked up. "Imagine if we could mount its head on the wall!" Lantea dreamed. "Imagine the coat I could make from the fur!" Misty chipped in. "Do you ever think of anything but clothes?" "I'm hungry." Misty replied, earning a resigned sigh from Lantea as they headed deeper to find the beast.

So far they didn't have much luck. All they found were cubs and young wolvers with an occasional alpha. And they were getting bored. But as they neared the elevator, they came face to faces with a giant flash of blue with six glowing red eyes. both of them instantly drawn their guns, but the beast burrowed before they could hit it. "What on Cradle was that?" Lantea asked, never encountering anything like it before. "My new coat, and it'S getting away, hurry!" Said Misty, already stepping on the elevator. Shaking off the surprise, Lantea followed.

When they reached the next level, the blue knight wasn't impressed. They could see the exit elevator from the one they used to get in. They proceeded into the only room. There wasn't much on the level, except a few thorny vines and... "What's that?" Lantea asked, pointing to something in the middle. "That's a bell, genius." Misty replied. "I can see that what's that for?!" Lantea barked back, slightly annoyed. But their theatrics were cut short as something roared behind them. When they turned, they only saw spikes coming out of the ground and heading towards them. Each of them jumped to another side of the room. Then, the Snarbolax popped out of the ground right in front of Lantea. "Nice doggy, nice doggy!" she babbled in panic, but one of the strong paws sent her flying. Then she heard a bang, saw stars, and then nothing.

A while later, Lantea came to her senses again only to see the Snarbolax's face staring her into the eyes. With a scared shriek she rolled away, only to see it was Misty holding a dead husk to her face and grinning madly. "Wha... What?" Lantea asked. Misty smiled: "It sent you head first straight to the bell. And while it knocked you out, the sound also stunned the beast. It was easy picking, really." the pink knight smiled, dragging her new would be coat to the elevator. "No fair. the one chance I get to see you in action, I get knocked out." Lantea sulked and followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Since the crazy mission that resulted in Misty owning a new coat (That she stopped using a few days ago in favor of this and that), Lantea started taking her missions a bit more seriously. Not only did she bother to listen to the briefings to know what she might come into contact with, but she started customizing her gear as well. Actually bothering to visit the training hall that she previously considered a sign of weakness, she decided to retire all of her swords. She did miss the Spur, but when she learned it had limited upgrade options, even that one had to go.

The blue knight fell in love with guns. Knowing her next set of missions would consists of defeating the slime family of monsters, she crafted herself a shadowtech alchemer and decided to never let it go. Practicing every available second with it, she destroyed several decorative stands in the guild hall to the displeasure of the guild's quartermaster and barista Rayfan. Fortunately it was known she did it, but noone saw her and thus it couldn't be proven, to Ray's great anger.

After one of her training sessions, she very nearly bumped into Zenihdrol. Paling a little bit, she didn't know if she was finally seen. However the ever chilly GM just winked and ruffled her hair. Stunned as she was from before, this just finished her. She always had a ladyboner for the man in charge, ever since he pulled her out of the abyss the day they met. That jelly helmet was burned into her retinas forever.

Shaking the surprise off and taking a few breaths to calm the jackhammer pounding in her chest, she turned to follow as she wanted to ask about something. Instead she nearly not bumped into Misty. As the two tumbled down the slope connecting the two storeys of the guild hall, they managed to entangle themselves in a pink and blue mess. "Mhmph, leff goh o mah fafe!" Lantea's muffled voice said, her head buried somewhere below the pink knight. Her arms shot up, shoving the weight off of her. "Sorry! Was in a hurry!" Cheery apologized, her cheeks red in embarrassment. Lantea's eyes were kept on her face. Pinky gave the other knight a quizzical look. "You got a bit of jello right there." Lantea pointed to Misty's jaw. "Seriously how are you not round with all of the candy you eat?"

The pink haired knight grinned: "Hyperactivity. You wipe it!" she said, angling her jaw up. Lantea put on a mischievous grin of her own. Time for some payback for the time where she stepped into Snarbodung. Quickly closing in, Lantea timed it to exhale over Misty's skin before licking the jello off. She felt her tongue going over goose bumps. Before Cheery could move, Lantea bolted, leaving Misty stunned just as she was before.

She didn't flee too far before running into the one person she didn't want to run into. In front of her was Rayfan with one of the new guild members, who was pointing the finger of blame at her. Digging her heels into the ground Lantea stopped running and started jumping to the side aisle, but a hail driver blast froze her to the ground. "Damn I have to get me one of those." she sighed, being slapped right after. "You! Two months of cleaning duty to pay up the damages!" Lantea tried giving the quartermaster puppy eyes, but it was no use. The recruit behind them made a mistake to laugh out loud at her situation. Rayfan turned around: "You, chip her out of the ice, and then help her." When the recruit took a breath to protest, Rayfan pointed a warning finger: "Because you laughed."

Two hours later, the two of them were waltzing around with mops, groaning and glaring daggers at each other. When the silence got unbearable, Lantea thrown her mop to the bucket and pointed at her guildie: "Whyyyyyy?" she whined. The other knight looked up and shoved his helmet backwards, revealing a bandage: "One of the ricochets from your guns hit me in the head!" he growled back, muttering something afterwards. "What was that?!" Lantea said, pointing her mop in a flourish like matter at the other knight. "I said your guns stink!" He said and took the mop as a staff. "You're just jealous 'Cuz you don't have one!" The blue knight teased, faking a strike from above and then going from below. The recruit caught it easily though. "Not bad….?" She paused, asking for a name. "Cryker!" he said, spinning around and slammed the mop-staff to Lantea's head from the side.

She flown aside, landing next to the water bucket. Grinning, she grabbed it and held it over her head. Cryker's face sunk as he realized what was about to happen: "Bombs? No fair!" He yelled as he started running from the blue, splashing death. They turned a corner only to see Rayfan again, who was alerted by their antics. The two of them stopped cold in their tracks, immediately setting the bucket down and starting to wipe the floors. The senior member shook his head: "You two are like siblings." They both turned to face him, their faces displaying shock and hanging jaws, matching perfectly. Rayfan shook his head, turning to leave: "Three months!" Both Cryker and Lantea flipped him off as soon as he turned a corner.

A few days later, Lantea figured out the reason for all the slimes appearing. Apparently the cubes of jello were smart enough to form a monarchy of sorts and the boss blob was thinking about expanding their empire to the rest of the clockwork. Of course, the Order couldn't have that if they hoped to use the core to get off the planet. And so, Lantea was asked to dispatch them. Remembering her pathetic performance against the Snarbolax, she decided taking few more people would be better this time, so she put a sticker up on the request board.

Within the hour, she was joined by Misty, Cryker, and against all odds, Rayfan. When they geared up, Lantea hit the button on the elevator and they begun the trek to the royal jelly palace. "Why are you here? Do you intend to sunbathe while we do all of the work again?" the blue knight asked her Guild Master. Cheery grinned from ear to ear: "I'm out of candy. You have a mission to the jelly place. How could I NOT join?" She laughed madly as Lantea facepalmed. Turning to Cryker, she whispered: "Whatever you do, be a good boy and don't listen to the crazy lady." The recruit nodded furiously, adding: "Hai, onee-chan!" It was Rayfan's turn to laugh when Lantea facepalmed for the second time.

The elevator finally descended and in front of them was a sunny garden level of the clockworks. Loading her gun freshly upgraded to Mk II, Lantea took point. Pretty soon they ran into the first slimes and their weapons got to work. Lantea found out two things. When she started running around the room clockwise, the bouncing bullets of her gun were dealing monstrous damage to the slimes all buckled up in one place. That much she trained for. The side effect of that though was that all of the angry slimes started chasing after her, leaving the others to pick them off one by one without taking much damage, if any.

They made their way through two levels pretty quickly and reached an elevator that displayed a skull on it's destination board. "Here we go." The blue knight said and took them down. The next level was again small, just like when they encountered the Snarbolax. Weapons charged and they all amassed on the button that triggered the gates. As soon as the bars lowered, a giant slime with a crown appeared in front of them, along with a bunch of it's subjects. "Punch me a hole!" Misty ordered and the weapons discharged, making a way straight to the big slime. "MinemineminemineMINE!" the pink knight shouted, dropped her weapons and made a beeline to the boss mob. With a giant leap she crossed the last few paces and her teeth sunk into the giant cube of jello.

Ten minutes later, the party was hauling a load of sweets to the guild hall's storage, along with some special candy the jelly king appeared to keep in a safe. When Brinks saw it as she carried it around, he stopped her with a wave of a hand. "You! I need those, can I maybe interest you in a trade? Pick one of these!" he said and opened a chest. Putting aside the velvet padding, inside were two weapons. Lantea's eyes lit up as she saw the love of her life. Inside was an old looking gun, with a six shot revolver. Nearly drooling, she looked at the Token trader: "Ca… Can I really have?" When the older knight nodded, she shoved the jelly gems into his hands and grabbed the gun.

She caught up to the rest only in the guild hall, where she found people teeth up in jello. Afraid there would be nothing left for her, she pulled up a seat and dug in herself. In the corner of her eye, she noticed two visitors snickering and putting something in the heap of sweets. Soon after, the feast was interrupted by a cracking sound and "Owie!"

Looking to the source of the pained gasp, she found Misty with her eyes tearing up, one of her teeth on the table right next to a grey, stone looking ball. "Medic!" she shouted, moving in to comfort the pink knight who dug her face in her embrace. Patting the usually forever-happy knight on her pink mane, her heart filled with intense, burning rage. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the two visitors trying to hide their foul smiles and looking for the exit.

As soon as the medic arrived, she let go and stormed after the two culprits. Hitting the alarm on her way, the door to the guild hall slammed shut right in front of the two morons. Their gear was far above Lantea's, but they apparently were just visiting Heaven and left their weapons home, unlike her who just returned from a mission. Spinning the drum on the Antigua, she slammed it into place and pointed it to the two cowering visitors, death and fury in her eyes: "You. Made. Her. Cry!" She yelled and shots started echoing through the hall. When Lantea appeared in the infirmary, she set a pile of new gear near the bed where Misty was resting. "They say they are deeply sorry and bought you some new outfits to make up for it." she said cryptically. Outside the town was filled with laughs as two knights ran home wearing nothing but their trunks.


	4. Chapter 4

A deathly cough echoed through the wing of the guild hall, followed by pained grunting. To an uninformed outsider, it would sound like someone was dying in there. To the nurse on duty, it merely marked that Lantea was still alive. As she walked to the infirmary which was located in the wing, she sighed. The blue knight was the worst patient ever, largely due to the fat that she was presently the only one. She couldn't blame the Blue for being bored - lying down all day under several blankets and sipping tea had that effect one a person. What she didn't approve of was the fact that Lantea had Cryker set a target opposite her bed and practiced her aim with the gun they were unable to make her part from.

Lantea wasn't without troubles either. usually her antics would get overlooked by the head nurse Meddi-Cal, however the CMO was absent, helping out in Emberlight. In her stead was Squeakums, who took to pranking the gunslinger for causing ruckus. It started easily - salt instead of sugar to put in her tea, a rubber spider put on her pillow when she slept - but as Lantea started to shoot back such as putting Squeak's photo on her target, the nurse's pranks got elaborate, thought through, and in a very short time made the blue knight lie still in her bed, beware of the hour the nurse would return.

As Squeakums turned the corner and entered the infirmary, she was greeted by a 'hmph' and a sulking knight. So she still didn't forgive her for putting ghost chili in her meal yesterday. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad, I tasted it you know." she said as she set a plate with her food on the table next to the bed. "If I die, you are so haunted." Lantea shot back, eyeing the food suspiciously and taking a very small bite before very slowly digging in, her sore throat making eating painful. "Next time I want to go into a frozen over part of clockwork, just shoot me in the foot." Blue said bitterly, making the nurse chuckle. Apparently wearing armor with cool blue theme didn't improve Lantea's hatred of cold weather at all.

"We'll, you'll be less bored now. A rattled knight will join you for today, and then you can go heal the rest of the flu to your quarters. I need the beds for the sick and wounded here, not the simulants." the nurse jabbed, with s grin that marked she meant that in jest. "Just being rid of your god awful cooking is its own reward!" she shouted after the leaving nurse who blown a kiss at her in return.

Just as Lantea was about to return to the ordeal called lunch, two medics wheeled in a bed with another knight. All she could see in the fluffy pillows were strands of purple hair, tied into pigtails much like her own. The rest of the knight was obstructed by bandages and casts that apparently held her in one piece. There was silence in the room as the medics left. Lantea was listening for a while whether the knight would make a sound, until she grown too bored again. "Are you still breathing?" she snarled, swallowing another bite and taking a few sips of the steaming tea. "Talking hurts. Got lumbered." the purple knight heaved, explaining the state she was in. Lantea shuddered as she remembered her own experience with the giant construct.

Getting out of her bed to stretch her legs, she walked over to the crushed knight. She looked terrible with casts on her left arm and a few stitches here and there. What surprised Lantea though was how young the other female looked - she couldn't have taken missions for too long. Melting at the sight of the cute, almost babyish face that was trying to hide the pained grimace bravely, she reached down and rubbed her cheek gently. "Shh, it's all right, you'll be fine now." Purple leaned into her hand, and... purred? It must have been Lantea's imagination. "Thirsty? uh..." she said, offering her own mug, and trailing off not knowing the knight's name. "Jibril. Thank you." she said as she took a few sips.

Introducing herself, Lantea wondered what exactly happened to the younger knight. "What weapon were you using? Please tell me it's not cobalt." The knight's face turning aside and blushing was answer enough. Lantea giggled. "Oh worry not, it took someone else to make me switch gear too. You know, if you can't dodge something as slow as lumber, maybe you should ditch the sword..." the older knight suggested. Seeing Jibril frown at the suggestion, she returned to her bed and reached below the pillow. When she returned, she held in her hand a shimmering, silver gun with a wing on top. The younger knight's eyes went wide as she sat on the bed, her eyes hypnotizing the weapon: "It's beautiful!"

Nodding, she held the silversix out for the other knight: "Go on, try it out. Target is right over there." Lantea pointed to the target, which got a few new holes in it since it was brought here. "We have targets in the infirmary?" Jibril raised en eyebrow. A 'Don't ask' was all the reply she got. Shrugging, the injured knight took aim. A pop of a shot echoed through the hall, followed by the sound of medical equipment shattering and Squeakums hyperventilating into a paper bag.

Thus they were both discharged from the infirmary the next day. dishonorably. Squeakums wheeled Jibril out on a wheelchair, then pushed Lantea out to the hall as well. The nurse pointed at Lantea, then on Jibril's wheelchair, then into the hallway out and then the door in to the hallway slammed shut with a thud as the nurse set to repair the damage. The two troublemakers silently left, Lantea pushing Jibril along, giving Rayfan's office a wide berth.

"So, do you have quarters assigned to you yet?" the blue knight asked, an idea forming in her head. She still had a week ordered of rest before they would let her anywhere near a clockwork elevator, and she could use some company. Since the mission to the royal jelly palace, she was able to complete all of her missions alone, and while she was getting good pay, the blue knight was lonely and bored out of her head.

"Nope. One of your guild found and rescued me from the clockworks, offered me to join. a pink hyperactive... thing." the younger knight shuddered, earning a chuckle and a story from Lantea about her first encounter with Misty Wellington. "Say," said the older knight, "Stay with me for now? There's a spare bunk. And I cook better than _she_." Lantea offered, receiving furious agreement.

Their room was sparsely furnished, but all the essentials were there - two moderately comfortable beds, a kitchenette, a shower and a table with chairs and TV. The only problem was that it was on the topmost floor. By the time Latnea pushed the wheelchair all the way up there, her lungs were failing to supply enough air to her. She sat down on the bed, and watched as Jibril got up from the wheelchair and started scouting the furniture - "Wait, you can walk?" she asked, confused. "Uuuuh, yeah? The nurse said I should wait a few days, but I don't know why, my leg's were'n injured..." the purple knight wondered.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile in the infirmary<em>

Squeakums was counting in her head the time it would take them to reach the room. "Three, two, one..." Then Lantea's angered roar rattled through the hall: "THIS IS NOT OVER, NURSE!" Squeakums grinned and gone back to fixing the equipment.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was a lot calmer than the morning. The duo shared stories from their missions so far, making notes and learning a bit from and about each other, all to pass the time while they laid in their beds, one trying to grow her arm back together and the other fighting off fits of cough.<p>

By the evening they both felt hungry and got up to eat. After a few minutes watching of watching Jibril handle the knife in a way that frightened the soul out of her, Lantea confined the younger knight to a chair and instructed her to deliver her calibur to the armory and never touch a sword again. "But I know nothing of guns!" Jibril whined. She didn't feel like starting from ground zero and learning by trial and error again. One broken arm in a month was enough.

Seeing her peril, Lantea briefly hesitated. She had help, but was she good enough to give it? Inhaling a deep breath, she calmed herself. It didn't matter. She was the one to turn the younger knight a gunslinger - it fell to her. Stepping closer, she lowered her head to Jibril's level, staring eye to an eye: "I do..." she said, ruffling the purple mane. Grinning, the student gave her new master a very careful, one-armed hug.

With the warm meal in their stomachs, the two of them fell asleep shortly after.


	5. Chapter 5

The first rays of sunlight shone through the window, gently waking Lantea up. The knight stretched in the bed and found something was amiss. Usually she would lie in the bed for two more hours just enjoying the warm, fluffy blanket before she would brave another day. Today however, she felt something on her arm. _Breath_. Startled, she sat up and opened her eyes, looking at the spot where she expected a gremlin assassin breathing down her neck before plunging a dagger into her heart.

Except it was no gremlin assassin, it was Jibril, curled on her bed and sleeping soundly. Lantea took a breath and was about to start yelling, when her gaze fell upon the peaceful and a bit drooling knight clad in dotted pajamas. As quickly as her temper flared up, she melted at the sight.

Getting up, she rummaged through the cupboards for something to eat, giving a disbelieving glance to her bed every now and then. She would have to do something about the sister-complexed recruits. Was every senior knight having this problem? She had to tear the posters with her likeness off of Cryker's wall, and this one was even worse case. Still it didn't stop her from making breakfast for the other knight. Taking a piece of paper, she wrote:

_Breakfast is on the table, you little creeper. I'm off running some errands, be right back._

Folding the piece of paper, she set it on the pillow in front of the purple knight's eyes, once again shaking her head. She grabbed a flask of water and headed out the door.

She didn't have anything to do really, and just strolled through the halls trying not to fall asleep again as she walked. Her legs automatically carried her in the direction of the training hall, her brain eager to get back to work, and if the blasted nurse wouldn't let her, training was the next best thing. Besides, she now had a student, so she better polish her skills.

The way went along Zen's chambers. She has often wondered what those rooms looked like inside, having a suspicion the guild master would have a bit nicer quarters than her bunk room. She just wanted to know by how much. What she wasn't quite ready to see was misty emerging from the room, looking like she crawled out of a washing machine, hair sticking in all directions and her draped armor put on inside out. The pink haired knight froze when she saw Lantea there.

"Ah! Eheheh... Hello?" she said, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Lantea let out a long whistle: "So you two are... Rough night?" she said with a faked grin. "Uh... yeah! that's right. We're seeing each other, uh..." Misty said, scratching the back of her head nervously. Lantea made a lip zipping motion, earning praising hands back as she walked behind a corner. Then the glass bottle in her hand shattered in her grip, a few shards cutting her palm: "Damn it to hell!" she cursed under her breath.

Sighing, Lantea headed towards the infirmary. The thought of having to be in the care of the nurse again didn'T bring her mood up at all, but it was better than a shredded hand. When she made it there, Squeakums was still in a nightgown, with pointy white hat with a red cross on it. The nurse squinted at Lantea angrily, pointing to the clock, until Lantea have her a bloodied wave with her injured hand. Rolling her eyes, Sqeak wordlessly nudged her towards the office.

"What happened? You look miserable enough for a doom cloud to be floating over your head." the nurse inquired as she got busy sewing Lantea's hand together. The blunette hissed when her palm was mercilessly flooded with disinfectant, grunting at the question. "Love is all unrequited." she said, sounding more upset than sad.

Of course, she knew crushing after the guild's head was probably a silly idea. She probably wasn't either the first or last whom the GM pulled out of a jam. Still, she wasn't even past to attempt stealing him from whoever it was that had him now. anyone but the Pinky. Despite everything, she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she made the cheery knight cry. "You just muster the courage to go do something about the feeling you have, you reach out..." she said, her healthy hand reaching up as if to grab the light bulb on the ceiling, "...and just like that, you find out you're late, and they're out of reach." she sighed, her hand clasping the air and falling back down. The nurse nodded with an agreeing grunt: "Yeah. Lucky if you get as far as the courage thing." she said, making Lantea's eyebrow fly up, but said nothing more.

**Few weeks later...**

Lantea wanted to return to work, but life had other plans for her. When she started teaching her roommate the ways of a gunslinger, she had no idea she would soon find herself with a whole class. Rayfan of all people even made it official - to spite her, she thought - and now she was stuck as the guild's teacher. Not that she really mind. It felt great to see the recruits make progress. Of course, some of them didn't make the cut, and she'd be lying if she didn't enjoy having the privilege of being the one to chew them out.

She was most pleased with Jibril, who seemed to have a natural talent, and despite starting late due to her injury, she was at the top of the class. So one morning, Lantea decided to take her star pupil to the next level. "You've got mail!" Jibril hollered from the door, carrying two envelopes. One was white with a blue stripe - spiral HQ issue - and the other was tiny and pink of all things. The blue knight opened the first one, and her eyes widened. Finally she had a mission assigned again. She needed to get away from the zealous rookies before they nail her to a cross in their shrine. "Hey Jibril, do you feel like getting to the clockworks again?" she asked.

The purple knight frowned, and stretched her arms. "It feels all healed up and ready to go. But I've only been training with the guns for two weeks!" Lantea smiled, shaking her head: "I wouldn't offer if I didn't think you have what it takes." Jibril beamed, giving her a thumbs up: "Okay then! When?" Lantea shared the date, and moved to the other envelope.

Her face went scarlet as soon as she read it, earning a quizzical look from her roomie: "What's that?" she asked, and when Lantea didn't answer, she swiped the letter from her hands. "Hey! Give that back!" the blunette snapped, but Jibril was indeed her best pupil and by now managed to keep her at a distance. Reading it as she dodged Lantea's attacks, she started laughing. "Hah! Somebody is crushing on you hard! I mean poetry?!" she was sent into a fit of giggles as Lantea went even redder, if that was even possible. "Shut up! And give that back!"

**The next day...**

They sat in the briefing room, waiting for Jibril to suit up. Zen and Squeak joined the gunner duet, both of which were acting weird lately, or so Lantea thought. The blue knight didn't talk with the former for over a month. Was he mad he saw Misty getting out of his room? And Squeakums looked like she wasn't getting enough sleep. And to top it all off, she got another of those letters, and again it was unsigned. She decided the glaring when people thought the target wasn'T looking had tos top. The nurse was first.

"Hey, you look like hell. Are you sure you want to come?" Lantea asked, genuine concern for the nurse in her tone for possibly the first time. She got a nod in response: "It's your first mission after being discharged and you are going _that_ deep? You'll need patching up. Or a casket. That and Meddi needs more supplies in Emberlight which is on the way there. I need you hapless recruits to carry the stuff." she said, trying to maintain her facade form before but Lantea wasn't buying it. "D'aaaw, she _does_ care!" she said in relation to the first half of what Squeakums said, leaving the other without comment. Lantea braced for the verbal assault, but the nurse just turned away and... _she blushed of all things? Must be full moon or something_. Lantea thought. Looking over her shoulder, she found Zen giggling at them from over his gloomy corner.

Making her way to him, she sat down at the table opposite the jelly faced knight. "Hey. what's with you? You seem awfully gloomy unlike the usual. Something I did?" she asked, a bit worried what the answer would be. The guild master looked towards the locker rooms: "Are you sure bringing a recruit along is good idea? I've been near Almire, that place is nasty even by my standards." He confided. Lantea leaned back, looking at the ceiling: "Jibril's a natural. I have never met anyone else who no matter what enemies you pit them against would always find a way to help. I suppose she's just wired differently than the rest of us. I only had to teach her everything just once." Taking Zen's not as approval and with Jibril finally geared up, the quartet walked onto the elevator, hauling the bags of supplies. Sqeakums punched in the code for Emberlight and the contraption took them down.

After unloading the supplies, they powered through a few depths of the clockworks before they finally stood at the Blackstone Bridge. The sight was as unwelcoming as it could get. What remained of the kingdom around them were charred ruins, the rest sunken into lava long ago. The bridge itself appeared like it would stand even if they fought on it, but the shadowfire was everywhere and something up ahead was launching spiked wheels against them. "Oi. This place doesn't like visitors." the nurse noted, earning nods and affirming grunts. "Alright, let's go." Lantea said and nodded at Jibril, the two of them using their sprites to cloak and sneak around, trying to see the enemy.

Soon enough, a few zombies crawled from the ground and two of them started unloading their antiguas at them. The angered mob gave chase, leaving Squeakums and Zenihdrol to pick them off one by one form behind, their swords doing short work on the zombies.

A few broken wheel launchers and disintegrated zombies later, they saw the elevator. The last obstacle was a large button. Lantea primed a few of her frost bombs around and joined the others, making the button sink into the floor. More zombies popped up and they dispatched them quickly, but then a duo of trojans appeared from out of nowhere. One of them immediately charged Lantea, and the blue knight barely dodged in time.

Seeing her roomie in trouble, Jubril's silversix rumbled and drawn the attention of Lantea's enemy. However the purple knight didn't notice the other trojan targeted her as well. She dodged one, but the other sent her flying, narrowly missing an active fire trap. "Jib!" Lantea shouted, but seeing Squeakums already at the purple knight's side, she turned her focus on the enemy. Switching to her blitz needle, she charged and then tossed a stone on one of the cursed warriors. Seeing that, Zen repeated with the other. Just as the trojan charged her, Lantea rolled to the side, turned around and unloaded a full drum into it's back. The crystal on the trojan's back broke, and the thing turned into stone. On the other side of the room, Zen had a bit better luck as he baited the trojan to charge over the edge and fall into a fiery death in the lava below.

"Talk to me! How is she!" Lantea shouted at Squeakums, worried about the downed knight. "She hit her head hard and is out cold. She needs a sickbay." the nurse delivered the diagnosis. Lantea thought for a little while. "Alright, take her up. Zen and I will continue." she finally decided, the guild master nodding in agreement. "Are you insane?" the nurse asked. If the four of them had problem on this depth, how will two fare deeper? Lantea shook her head. "They hurt my friend. I'm not insane," she said as she walked towards the elevator, shivermist in one hand and argent in the other, "I'm angry!" Blue growled, hate clear in her eyes.

Lantea didn't remember much from the next few levels. She was seeing red, and did just one thing: Murdered every monster in sight. She sharpened the decorative wings on her gun on a piece of rock, and when she ran out of bullets in the drum, she mercilessly mowed the zombies down with it.

Finally they stood at the old Throne room. "Stay focused!" Zenihdrol said, "The Intel said a powerful, cursed being once inhabited this place. Keep your eyes peeled." Lantea nodded. The only way they could take was straight ahead. She checked her guns and reloaded them both, and readied a frost bomb just in case.

When they were ready, the two knights pressed the button that opened the throne room's gate. And inside, they saw _him._ **"What's this? More wolves hungry for the blood of Almire? Our great kingdom shall never fall to the likes of beasts!"** Lord Vanaduke growled, and slammed his giant mace to the ground. Around them, Zombies crawled form out of nowhere and the giant charged them. The knights split up, Lantea leaving one of the frost bombs behind. It went off and covered the monster in ice. To her dismay though, he started breaking free as Zen unloaded his blitz needle to his back. Lantea thrown another bomb at him and switched to deal with the zombies that were crawling way too close to her CO.

"Behind you!" Zen suddenly shouted, and Lantea turned around raising her shield. Just in time. Vanaduke's mask fell off, but it didn't stay on the ground. Coated in fire and levitating, it shot fireballs at them. The fire around it was so intense Lantea's bomb had no effect on it whatsoever. "The sacred water!" Zen yelled as she dodged the flames lashing at him. The Blue knight ran into one of the springs in the corners of the room, and scooped up some of the water into her helmet.

Making a mad dash in between fireballs, she somehow survived long enough to splash the mask with the water. To her relief, the flames went out, allowing her to get closer and empty a blitz drum into it as Zen went for another dose of the liquid to keep it doused.

After a few barrages, the mask suddenly flown back to the giant's face and his scepter slammed in between the two knights, sending them to the opposite walls. **"Fools. Didn't you hear the legends? No wielder of this mask was ever defeated by any man!"** His voice boomed over the throne room.

"I'm no _man_." Lantea growled back as the scepter loomed dangerously above her head, threatening to smear her over the floor. "Neither am I." sounded from the other side of the room, making both Lantea and Vanaduke turn to the source of the voice.

Zenidhrol was getting off of the ground, and as he did, the jelly helmet fell off and broke as it collided with the floor. What it revealed was a wild mane of pink hair. Lantea's eyes went wide as a few things clicked into place. How Misty was never around whenever she saw Zen. The dodgy answers when someone wanted to see both of them about something. The suspicious looks Misty was shooting her ever since that encounter two weeks ago. It all made sense now!

Noticing Vanaduke was distracted, Lantea jammed a shivermist under his armor and ran off. Before she could be flattened, the bomb went off and froze the giant in place once more. "Get him!" she yelled, picking up both of her guns and pressing the triggers until there was nothing but the clicks of empty breeches.

Looking up, she saw bleeding, but still very much alive Vanaduke bringing his full might on Misty. The pink knight was knocked aside and knocked out by the impact. "No... Not another one... You... You'll pay..." Lantea growled silently, before charging the giant in a raging madness. Jumping over the swinging mace, she charged the blitz needle. Landing just below, a swift kick knocked Vanaduke's mask off, and she emptied the blitz into his face. The giant's had swatted her aside, but the screaming marked his end. Stumbling backwards, he tripped over the guard rail and fell to the lava below.

One of Lantea's hands hung limply next to her side, twisted in an unnatural angle. She stumbled closer to Misty, checking her vitals. There was a pulse, but it was faltering. "No... Don't... Don't you dare die on us!" she whispered, pinching Misty's palm to try to get her to wake up. with a stir, she actually opened her eyes. "Lant... I'm pretty beat up." she said, coughing out some blood, "I don't think... Misty would have been taking over but, you now know... Rayfan does too, he'll understand..." She said as Lantea's eyes widened in fright, not wanting to hear any of this. "The guild... needs a master... and I think.. It should.. be y-"

**"No!"** Lantea yelled from the top of her lungs. Looking up, Misty saw something strange. The blue knight had an aura glowing around her, flowing into her hand and concentrating in a sphere. "We're both coming up I won't have this garbage 'I'm dying' talk!" the blue knight kept yelling, and slammed the sphere of energy into Misty's chest. The room exploded in a burst of light, thundering around the whole level.

Several minutes later, an elevator arrived at Haven with both of them bloodied and broken, but breathing.


End file.
